There are so many good melodic hard rock and AOR band hailing out of Sweden, and they just keep coming. RIAN (not RAIN) is one of the latest ones I have discovered… Another solid and really good band.
If you want me to say what is the closest known band here, I would say later TREAT. I trace the same attack in the sound, and approximately the same type of lead voice (RICHARD ANDERMYR on vocals and guitar – hence the monicker RIAN!). If anyone remember the nice Swedish band FATAL ATTRACTION, there are also some vibes of their music. And by that I mean the cool ability of rocking pretty hard but still maintaining a very melodic approach. Really nice harmony vocals too!
I am slightly allergic to the rip-off of the lyric line “There’s a bad moon on the rise” in the song “Hide away”. OK, RIAN has the phrase “There’s a full moon on the rise” but it’s the same melody.
The album is also blessed with one of the best productions I’ve heard from DANIEL FLORES ever. Good choruses, no smashing ones but still better than average. A more than decent album, so three and a half in grading is perfect for me - but is close fo a four!